The Weapon Merlin Stole
by Finary Lane
Summary: Arthur wonders why Leon insists on showing off his weapons to Merlin. AU.


For some reason, ever since Merlin had returned to Camelot from his captivity with Morgana, Sir Leon had taken to displaying all manner of weapons to him. It baffled Arthur that the knight thought Melin had any interest in weaponry, but Merlin was polite enough to feign interest. Nevertheless, Arthur knew that Leon wasn't daft, so something must have caused him to believe that Merlin would care about his daggers and crossbows and Arthur was determined find out what it was.

At first, Arthur hadn't payed it much mind. Why would he care about harmless conversation between members of his court? But the years dragged on and evey few weeks, Leon would mention a new weapon being developed or his favourite method of sharpening blades. It was curious if unimportant.

It had been a long time since this had begun, but Camelot had finally started to settle down, leaving Athur with more time on his hands than he knew what to do with. Of course, his kingdom always needed ruling and lords and ladies always had requests, but without war and the laws on magic now firmly in place, the stability allowed Arthur time to dwell on mysteries he had put on hold due to more urgent matters.

Mysteries including that of Leon's penchant for talking about swods with Merlin.

It was an innocent enough venture, so he took Leon aside after a morning sparring practice and asked him about it.

"Well," said Leon, scratching his chin, "It was some time ago that he first asked me about weapons. He was picking out a weapon for you, sire, and I helped him out since he hadn't a clue what he was doing."

Arthur hardly had a flawless memory, but he knew he would never ask Melin to pick out a weapon for him. What a ridiculous notion. The man could hadly tell a sword from a kitchen knife!

"Do you remember anything else about that time?" asked Arthur.

Leon gave gave a helpless half-shrug.

"Sorry, Sire. It was so long ago that I don't remember much at all. Although... He did destroy something in the weapons' room, with quite a bit of power. I don't recall which weapon it was, but Merlin was very happy with it. His enthusiasm back then is why I sometimes make recommendations to him."

Arthur thanked and dismissed the knight, trying to piece together this triggering event. Despite now knowing the origin of the weapon talk between his former manservant and his knight, Arthur was dissatisfied. Really, the whole thing made so little sense. Merlin had, for some reason, gone to get a weapon. Leon's assumption that Arthur had sent him to get it was the most logical, but Arthur knew he had done no such thing. So what had Merlin done with it? Hidden it under his bed in case Morgana attacked him in his sleep?

That... was sadly a very possible explanation. Arthur knew that the Leon's weapon talks had started shortly after Merlin's captivity at Mogana's hand. It wouldn't be unreasonable for him to have been more paranoid. In fact, Arthur recalled Merlin acting particularly strange after that ordeal, but had chalked it up to the stress of being held prisoner.

However logical that hypothesis seemed, it was in no way conclusive. He needed more information. Arthur still didn't know which weapon had been taken, although he doubted that it had been a bladed weapon. Merlin could hadly lift a sword, let alone destroy anything with it. Maybe it was a mace that the clumsy idiot had swung without enough care. And more importantly, what had he done with it? And why steal from the armory of Camelot castle? It was risky and theft could warrant a death sentence. The consequence of getting caught outweighed what little protection a weapon could bring him.

It didn't make sense; there had to be another other motive.

There was no reason to tiptoe around the matter, and it concerned him more than he would like to admit. Thankfully, there was someone else he could interrogate: Merlin.

He ambushed the Court Physician in the quarters he used to share with Gaius when he was Arthur's servant. He was flicking through thick tomes Arthur could have sworn to be magic grimoires if they hadn't been there since his father's rule. He prompted Merlin about his conversations with Leon after a quick greeting. Merlin slowly looked up from his books, a raised eyebrow reminiscent of Gaius.

"I have no idea why Leonis always talking about weapons. I figured it was knight thing. Isn't it?"

How odd. Maybe Merlin just needed reminding about meeting Leon in the armory? About the weapon he took out of there?

"Arthur, I never got any weapon from the armory. I took care of your armor and sword, that's all. Besides that, I've only been there a handful of time to clean up."

And wasn't that a curious answer? Merlin could barely lie to save his life and Arthur doubted that he was lying now. It was a long time ago, though. It was possible that the event had completely slipped from Merlin's mind. The man was always in some sort of disarray. it would be no suprise for him to forget a number of things, including this one.

Arthur sighed and excused himself from the physician's quarters. Merlin couldn't provide any answers to his remaining questions and there was no one else to grill for infomation.

Besides, it had happened years ago. This was, he reminded himself, a pointless investigation.

He had other duties to tend to than resolving this small mystery. As irritating as it may have been, he had to let it go, just as many other unsolved mysteries had. One day, however, he vowed to solve them all. Until then, he had a meeting with his councillors to attend.

He made a mental note on the matter though: Merlin stole a weapon from the amory following his captue with Mogana. Perhaps this puzzle piece would fit in with the countless other mysteries that plagued the castle.


End file.
